by Himanshi Arora

Cultivation refers to shaping up your ideas, your perceptions, your world view, your conception of reality, and your beliefs. The theory of Cultivation explicitly talks about the influence of television. 

Evolution of Mass Media

In the 1970s, the reading habit of people in America declined. There was a massive shift in terms of people’s habits, they entertained themselves by work of fiction. This was one of the most favorite pastimes for people

First, the means of entertainment for people was novels  which started in the last 400 years. Prior to that, the means of fiction was only drama. The growth of the novel took place because of the growth of the middle class people because they had leisure time and they require something for entertainment. Earlier, the work of novels was published in the magazines and later on it got published as novels. First, people used to write for magazines and then they started publishing novels. 

Earlier cinema was not there, only theater was there. And for theater, people need to go out and watch a pro setup. That luxury was not available to all classes of people, also it was not convenient for women. The growth of novels took place because of women. The history of novels is actually attached with the history of the mass medium.

The first departure point from this territory took place in the 1920s with radio. During the first world war, radio became a tool for military communication. Radio was invented only hundred years ago and it was a massive hit. It was devised as a medium of communication for military purposes. Even the internet was conceived as a tool of military communication in the 80s. This military communication tool became a tool of mass media. The involvement of people in radio is minimal as compared to involvement in novels. People can play radio in the background but while reading novels, they need serious engagement. It became a huge success within the working classes because mostly they were illiterate and secondly, they hardly had a time. 

And in the 1960s, television changed it all. People just got hooked on television. Within a span of 10 years, it became a massive success across the USA. 

Influence of Television 

Television became popular among the children and parents were worried about their children’s bad habit of watching excessive television. This theory talks about the impact of television. Television in itself is very unique, it is a visual medium and the power of visuals is really huge. 

George Gerbner has divided the television viewers into three categories. Light viewers, middle range viewers and people who consume television more i.e. high viewers. Light viewers consumed  0-2 hours per day and the middle range viewers 2-4 hours per day and high viewers consumed media for more than 4 hours per day. People who consume television for more than four hours suffer from mean world syndrome. This viewing actually cultivates the conception of the larger reality.  Earlier in the US, a lot of violence was shown on the television. People who watch television for more than four hours, they would perceive the world very differently. They would perceive it as a violent place because day in and day out they would watch violent shows. Similarly OTT platforms are also presenting dark stuff. This dark depiction/ negative depiction leads to  mean world syndrome. There was a huge difference between the light viewers and the heavy viewers. The conception of the world is affected negatively because of mass media.